Lucas Oil Stadium third smallest Super Bowl stadium

The Super Bowl 46 stage is set, but how large is that stage?  Not very large compared to years past. On paper, Indianapolis is home to the third smallest Super Bowl stadium ever.

Lucas Oil Stadium holds 63,000 people. An extra 7,000 temporary seats can be added, but organizers are not adding them. The decision was made 11 months ago. Instead, 254 City View Club Seats have been installed.

"Those are the only additional seats being added," said Mel Raines with the Super Bowl Committee

If the big game sells out, attendance would likely only beat out Super Bowl 26, and Super Bowl 1. Temporary seating ruined the experience for thousands of fans last year in Dallas. Extra seating was installed, tickets were sold, then the seats were deemed unsafe. Organizers said they are not letting that happen this year.

"They have been inspected and, to my understanding, approved," said Raines. "That was handled by the NFL construction folks. They are done and approved by both the city and the state."

Football fans, like Brian Bibb said, regardless of size, Lucas Oil Stadium is the perfect place for a game of this magnitude.

"I do not think it is embarrassing at all," said Bibb. "You look at that stadium, there is nothing really embarrassing about it. It is a site to see and it is really a beautiful stadium."